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6 First edition 2006, second edition 2009 by: British Council CIDOB Foundation Institut Europeu de la Mediterrània British Council Translator: Gordon Burt Copy Editing: Iván Martín & Richard Gillespie Cover Design: Baética Publishing-production: CIDOB edicions C/ Elisabets, 12, Barcelona T F ISBN: D.L.: Print: Color Marfil, S.L. Barcelona, March 2009 Acknowledgements We would like to thank all those people and institutions who have supported the publishing of this book. Individuals whose contribution has been particularly significant are of course the conference directors and main authors, Richard Gillespie and Iván Martín and those who have authored the various contributions to the publication (Chris Hickey, Narcís Serra, Senen Florensa, Pedro Martínez Montávez, Miguel Hernando de Larramendi, Bárbara Azaola, Emma Murphy, Michelle Pace, Fiona McCallum, José Antonio Macías, Laura Rodríguez, Eduard Soler i Lecha and Sarah Wolff ), as well as those who have helped with the drafting and provided editorial advice at various stages (Iván Martín, Richard Gillespie, Gemma Aubarell, Eduard Soler i Lecha, Mariló Bellido and Bet Mañé). Disclaimer This publication contains lists of researchers, institutions and courses compiled as a aid for future research and to promote collaboration among researchers. The British Council, Institut Europeu de la Mediterrània and the CIDOB Foundation are not responsible for the contents of any external website referred to in this publication.

7 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 7 Chris Hickey PROLOGUE 11 Narcís Serra WHY RESEARCH THE MEDITERRANEAN TODAY? 15 Senén Florensa ARTICLES 21 Richard Gillespie and Iván Martín The Encuentro as a Model for Researchers on the Mediterranean and the Middle East...23 Pedro Martínez Montávez Mediterranean: Surprise, diversity and a culture of solidarity...31 Emma Murphy and Michelle Pace The status of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Studies in the United Kingdom...43 Miguel Hernando de Larramendi and Bárbara Azaola Studies of the Contemporary Arab World and the Mediterranean in Spain...85 Fiona McCallum, José Antonio Macías, Laura Rodríguez, Eduard Soler i Lecha and Sarah Wolff Problems and perspectives of the new generation of researchers on the Arab World and Mediterranean in Spain and the United Kingdom Richard Gillespie and Iván Martín Researching the Mediterranean and the Arab World in the UK, Spain and Europe: present challenges and future initiatives APPENDICES 177 Programme of the Encuentro List of Participants...181

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11 INTRODUCTION Chris Hickey Director British Council, España It is an honour for me to present this publication based on the Encuentro between British and Spanish specialists on the Mediterranean and the Middle East, which took place in March 2006, and was organised by the British Council in collaboration with the Universidad Autónoma of Barcelona, IEMed and the CIDOB Foundation. This Encuentro established a first point of contact between researchers from the UK and Spain, provided analysis of the state of studies on the Mediterranean and the Middle East in their respective countries, explored areas of shared interest and identified possible projects for future collaboration. The results go beyond the event itself, since it has given rise to a series of concrete proposals, designed to strengthen research on the Mediterranean and the Middle East, not only in the UK and Spain but throughout Europe and the Euro-Mediterranean area. The publication includes two reports that were commissioned for the Encuentro, on the situation of Mediterranean/Arab World studies in the UK and Spain. It is hoped that these reports will act as both a basis for future reinforcement as well as providing a synthesis of the debates that took place on questions such as the research agenda, interaction with the media and political institutions and the perspectives of new generations of researchers, who enjoyed ample representation at the Encuentro. This volume is the second of Researching The Mediterranean which I m delighted to say has become a valued reference point for scholar, research centres, universities and social entities that focus on the relationship between Europe and the Mediterranean. We have received very positive feedback about the original publication and I m pleased to say that it has helped inform thinking on our own Intercultural Dialogue project work which focuses on the area of building trust and understanding between cultures. The British Council is the United Kingdom s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We build engagement and trust for the UK trough the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people worldwide. 9

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15 PROLOGUE Narcís Serra President of the CIDOB Foundation Ameeting was held in March 2006 in Barcelona of British and Spanish researchers focusing on Mediterranean and Arab World studies, organised by the British Council with the collaboration of the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, the European Mediterranean Institute (IEMed) and the CIDOB Foundation s Mediterranean Programme. Given the quality of the studies, lectures and discussions at the encounter, the three institutions have decided to go ahead with this publication. The CIDOB Foundation believes that exchange between Spanish and British academics (as well as with other EU researchers) must be consolidated if Europe is to aspire to quality research standards. It is our hope that this Spanish-British Encounter will contribute as far as possible to the aim of combining forces and enhancing contacts between countries which have already established a critical research mass. From the Spanish standpoint but also from that of the United Kingdom and the EU, the Mediterranean and the Arab World must be central to all our political and research agendas. The Mediterranean has been a leading priority for Spanish foreign policy, not just because of the historic links between the two shores but also as a consequence of their increasing interdependence. What we must in fact ask is to what point events in Morocco, Algeria or the Middle East are strictly questions of international policy or whether it is yet again becoming clear that the frontier between domestic and international matters is tending to blur. Developments such as the situation in Iraq or in the Palestinian territories, or the Israel-Lebanon crisis make it clear that the whole world closely monitors events in the Mediterranean and the Arab World. These phenomena may in turn have repercussions in other parts of the globe and even in neighbourhoods in many European cities. It should be expected that the centrality of the Mediterranean and the Arab World in international relations would translate into a thorough and detailed European understanding of this region. There is however on our continent insufficient knowledge of the region s languages, such as Arabic, Tamashek 1, Hebrew, Turkish or Farsi, plus an often simplistic perception of its political, economic and social processes. 1. Tamashek is a Bereber language used mainly among the Tuareg community 13

16 Research has to be enhanced if these factors are to be remedied, with the promotion of fieldwork and language-training, and encouraging the creation of cross-border networks among universities and programmes allowing for student and teacher exchanges. This must all enable us to better understand phenomena such as the rise of political Islam, the development of the pan-african migration routes, the influence of media like Al Jazeera o Al Arabiya, social changes in Iran, the likely impact of Turkish EU membership on its surroundings, and many other aspects we do not grasp in their entire complexity. Encounters such as the one in Barcelona must enable our researchers to build bridges with other universities, forge personal contacts with other researchers, exchange experiences and see how research agendas can differ and yet be complementary. Thus, step-by-step, European research in the Mediterranean and the Arab World will become more comprehensive, more powerful and have more impact. 14 PROLOGUE

17 WHY RESEARCH THE MEDITERRANEAN? 15

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19 WHY RESEARCH THE MEDITERRANEAN? Senén Florensa Director General, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) Because of the academic world's differing approaches to the Mediterranean region, each world view has until now determined the way in which it is studied and understood. This diversity of starting points has fragmented academic specialists among those studying North Africa, the Maghreb, the Mashrek, the Middle East or the Near East into Orientalists, Arabists, and an infinity of labels conceived according to a geographical or subjective vision in which, even in this sense, they have not coincided. I am however increasingly convinced that this logic is being superseded and, beyond these fragmenting labels, new integration perspectives and new views are emerging, making it possible to conceive the future of a genuine Euro-Mediterranean partnership through the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean. Despite the existing rift between the student and the object of study, decisive in defining the approach to research, we have over time come closer to a model whereby the Mediterranean is itself the subject of study, of which we ourselves form a part of, from our own subjective standpoint, making us simultaneously student and subject. Thus the Mediterranean has ceased to be a place for observing the others, to become somewhere where we observe ourselves, a space enabling us to supersede the vision of traditional Orientalists, to abandon the magnifying glass through which an entomologist studies his fascinating object of desire, and to embark on a far more introspective and, in short, more sincere study. We no longer observe the other, but work with that other to understand also ourselves. The Mediterranean is without doubt much more than a geographical space; it is - and has always been - from a historical, cultural and social perspective, a common place of contact and relation not always shaped by a logic of conflict. A space which can only be analyzed and studied responsibly on the basis of the profound and inherent multiple similarities underlying our cultures. Seeing beyond the formal differences to perceive the shared patterns binding our socio-cultural roots is a good beginning in the quest for a common starting point for experts from North and South. This starting point refers to matters as basic as Europe's assumption that the influences and contributions passing between Mediterranean cultures follow a multidirectional logic, that the Mare Nostrum is ours equally to the North, the South and the East, and that it is essential to take on this 17

20 heritage on an equal footing. The need for awareness of a common Mediterranean thinking can only bring our attitudes and viewpoints closer and enable us to move forward substantially in the understanding of our space. However, to imagine that we have found the shared place to resolve our dilemmas would immerse us in self-deception. With the flow of a constantly-changing sea, the idea of the Mediterranean forming part of the past, the present and the future is constantly transformed and so deserves to continue to be researched. Thus, beyond this achievement, and without indulging in the self-satisfaction of having been able to create a notion of the Mediterranean in which we feel that we participate, the great challenge facing us is to have Europe - all the Europes, Northern Europe, Atlantic Europe, Anglo-Saxon Europe, Scandinavian Europe or Eastern Europe - also become part of this common space, this community of shared interests. And this is a reason for occasions like the Spanish-British researcher's encounter, as we seek jointly to promote a new space of which we can all feel a part of: the Euro-Mediterranean. Therefore, the key lies in the concept of integration, which must happen not just in the shared yet plural conception of the Mediterranean as a common space. Moreover, and as occurs in other fields of scientific knowledge, a study or analysis of Mediterranean matters, in which politics, economics or social and cultural relations are closely bound up, cannot be complete or correct if not tackled from an interdisciplinary perspective. Promoting access by professionals from different areas of study to greater contact with other approaches implies the fomenting of a deeper and more genuine examination of key questions articulating relations between Europe, the Maghreb and the Mashrek, such as migratory flows, political and economic rapprochement, security matters, growing interculturalisation or environmental problems. All these questions make clear the growing interdependence of the three shores, and the multiplicity of factors involved in Mediterranean relations which cannot therefore be analyzed or studied in isolation, since the Mediterranean is a diverse but integral whole at all levels and in all areas of analysis. We do have the necessary tools allowing us to implement this Euro- Mediterranean research project, as evidenced by aid and joint research programs. The use of these instruments must be a first exercise for Europe and the Arab World to resume their places, their shared point of view, their pride in study, knowledge and research to some degree, willing to speak a single language, that of the will to transmit and, by participation, to attain the knowledge and understanding which is the heritage of all. The reinforcement of this common space will be a key to all that, where we can all share, as the space which explains our history, what we were and what we are, giving meaning to a changing reality, decisive to what we all speak about, those major items on the international agenda. Thus alliances, partnership between study centers, think tanks, universities and the media are fundamental. A turbulent present can only be grasped with analytical instruments which are permanently dynamic, constantly interchanging. It will not be possible to observe and understand current reality when indifferent to the Mediterranean, and it is precisely the gap between analysis and study which creates an imbalance, misunderstanding, 18 WHY RESEARCH THE MEDITERRANEAN?

21 misinformation, a great jumble where, beyond separate studies each indifferent to the others, mutual perceptions gather. Only when analysis and study go hand in hand will it be possible to overcome misunderstandings. For example, media analysis, describing and interpreting the reality short term, runs a greater risk of decoupling study and the understanding accumulated, and to create distorted perceptions of the reality we live. Only when both analysis and study are structured, respect and communicate with each other will we be able to influence the way of grasping reality. In this respect, the Third World Congress for Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Studies (WOCMES) to be held in Barcelona in July 2010 is an interdisciplinary initiative that will bring together more than 2000 experts and scholars. The event is an exceptional opportunity for researchers from all over the world to exchange ideas, experiences and practices. The WOCMES represents a unique scenario for social and human scientists to discuss the challenges generated by the clash between methodological Vs practical approaches to social science. In addition, the participation of local and international media and high-ranking decision-makers in political, economic and cultural spheres will allow disseminating and promoting the exchange of ideas beyond academic research. Barcelona will undoubtedly be an exciting setting to meet and discuss key topics related to Middle Eastern studies, as well as to foster the dialogue on the Mediterranean. A strong participation of actors from the Southern Basin will assure dialogue with quality, expertise, reciprocity and plurality attributes. This contribution will ease their integration into existing working and exchange networks but will also generate new discussion perspectives. Initiatives permitting such interrelation between experience, thought and academic work will enable us to share our knowledge and debate our truths, so that they are not immutable and definitive. It will help our understanding to grow, change and be enriched at the same rate as the flow of events. And our quest may allow us to find effective responses to construct the shared Euro-Mediterranean world we desire. SENÉN FLORENSA 19

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25 THE ENCUENTRO AS A MODEL FOR RESEARCHERS ON THE MEDITERRANEAN AND THE MIDDLE EAST Richard Gillespie Professor of Politics at the University of Liverpool Iván Martín Associate Researcher at the Instituto Complutense de Estudios Internacionales (ICEI) in Madrid Studies, as they have traditionally been known in Spain, and Middle East Studies, as in the UK, have a long track Arab record in Europe. While traditional approaches have experienced a degree of crisis (and certainly fresh challenges) since the 1990s, more recent Mediterranean or Euro-Mediterranean Studies programmes have provided renewed stimulus to discipline-based and interdisciplinary studies of the region. Increasingly, what has been known as area studies in the UK has had to come to terms with international studies in an increasingly interconnected world. There is now plenty of potential for current interest in the Barcelona Process and the Union for the Mediterranean to inspire new approaches to Arab, Middle East and Mediterranean [henceforth AMEM] studies that will deepen understanding of this politically important area, and be of value to research users, including policy-makers and other practitioners. This second edition of Researching the Mediterranean is being published in direct response to the widespread interest provoked by the first edition of what we believe to be a unique book on the status and prospects of academic research on the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Whereas the original version was produced primarily to report on the debates that took place during the Encuentro of UK and Spanish specialists on the Mediterranean and Middle East organised in Barcelona in March 2006 under the auspices of the British Council, the latest edition has the aim more of offering that event as a possible model for further initiatives allowing researchers from around the region to compare their experiences and perspectives, with a view to the enhancement of collaboration and opportunities. The holding of the Third World Congress of Middle East Studies (WOCMES) in Barcelona in July 2010 offers an excellent opportunity to take up the thread of the Encuentro and to widen its focus by planning a more ambitious activity involving AMEM research institutes throughout Europe, at a time when developments across the Mediterranean are making both Mediterranean Studies and Middle East Studies ever more relevant. Since the first Encuentro, some of the developments that we, along with others, were pressing for have begun to materialise through concrete steps in the project of the Euro-Mediterranean Area of Higher Education. Of particular note, we would highlight the First Euro- 23

26 Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on Higher Education and Scientific Research held in Cairo in June 2007 (to be followed by a second one later in 2009, as agreed at the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean Ministerial Conference in Marseille in November 2008) and the resulting Cairo Declaration, as well as the inauguration in June 2008 of the Euro-Mediterranean University in Piran (Slovenia), with a mirror institution being established in Fez (Morocco). These are fundamental steps, but very little is known so far about the actual substance of these initiatives or how they might contribute to strengthen Arab, Middle East and Mediterranean studies in particular. Within this broad context, and in view of the still wider evolution of the Barcelona Process through the creation of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in July 2008, we believe that the Encuentro model remains important as a means of structuring collaboration between Euro-Mediterranean and Middle East researchers, for a number of reasons. One is that, while there are regular conference and seminar opportunities for scholars from different countries to compare their research findings, there is value also in researchers coming together to discuss in a practical way how research in their field might be enhanced through Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. Another is that the Encuentro model encourages consideration of research priorities, arising from reviews of what has been achieved already and its shortcomings. A third reason is that the model cuts through the traditional disciplinary boundaries that have hampered research in the past, for example by separating European studies from Arab or Middle East studies, or political from economic disciplinary approaches. The original Encuentro achieved this at a bilateral level, by bringing together a considerable number of researchers, based in the communities of Arab Studies in Spain, Middle East Studies in the UK and Mediterranean or Euro-Mediterranean Studies in the two countries. While the rationale for bringing together scholars from Britain and Spain was partly political (the impetus coming from bilateral cooperation in organizing the first Euro-Mediterranean summit meeting in 2005), additional justification was provided by the relative strengths of these countries Mediterranean research communities. It was also felt that Spanish and British scholars and researchers brought complementary approaches to these studies, and that there was ample room for synergy; we are sure that the same applies for other groups of countries. The Encuentro was seen as an unprecedented attempt to identify areas of joint interest and to establish regular interaction and cooperation mechanisms. It is not easy to measure the impact of the original Encuentro. Most of its bilateral follow-up has been through collaboration at an individual level, now that the two national communities know each other better. 1 Yet considerable interest has emanated too from researchers in other countries (including, for instance, a new member state of the EU like 1. A recent example of acknowledged impact is the publication of a special issue of the journal Democratization (Vol. 16.1, February 2009) where the editors, Michelle Pace and Peter Seeberg, mention the Encuentro as the origin of the group of academic researchers contributing to the issue. 24 THE ENCUENTRO AS A MODEL FOR RESEARCHERS ON THE MEDITERRANEAN AND THE MIDDLE EAST

27 Bulgaria) who have seized on the model itself, or parts of it, adopting it to focus on research activity in other parts of the Euro-Mediterranean area. In fact, this is why the original edition of the volume rapidly exhausted its supply, leading us to consider how to meet the on-going demand. For this second edition, we have decided to retain the original text, because its analysis and conclusions are to a large extent still relevant three years on and because it remains a useful guide to how similar events could be structured. In other words, it can be read as a menu of possibilities, some of which will be more relevant than others, depending on the objectives of the organisers of future events. We also propose to continue using the Spanish word encuentro as the best way of capturing the concept that we propose. Distinct from the false friend, encounter, in English, which implies more of a clash, encuentro signifies a meeting place or a forum, an agora, open public square or Plaza Mayor where those with common interests can come together to exchange views and experiences and decide upon new initiatives. One clear strength of the Encuentro model is its flexibility. It can just as easily be expanded as it can be compressed in terms of agenda. It could also be used again as a bilateral model or adapted for multilateral purposes, by focusing on a broader range of national research experiences. Above all, our aspiration is to see the model develop in future through the involvement of researchers from all around the Euro- Mediterranean area in order to focus on non-eu Mediterranean countries as well as European ones. The idea is to contribute to the Barcelona Process and the Union for the Mediterranean with activities that also have value in terms of the research objectives of individual scholars and research institutions. The First Encuentro The first meeting of Arab, Middle East and Mediterranean researchers brought together a representative sample of social science researchers and scholars working in the UK and Spain on the contemporary (post- Independence) Mediterranean and Arab World. From the very beginning we decided one of the features of the Encuentro should be its interdisciplinarity: bringing together economists, political scientists and specialists in international relations, as well as sociologists and anthropologists, and even lawyers. This by no means excluded Arabists, scholars of the Arab language who focus their research on the social, political and economic realities of Arab countries and have made such a tremendous contribution to AMEM studies (indeed, they are strongly associated with the origins of such studies, both in the UK and Spain), but it did exclude purely historical, archaeological, literary or linguistic researchers. The aim was modest and simple: to get to know each other (better), exchange views on the state of our field of study and explore the possibilities of co-operation. The main purpose was to discuss the state and evolution of AMEM studies (problems and prospects), to learn about the respective specialist institutions and their research priorities, and to network with a view to potential co-operation or joint projects. RICHARD GILLESPIE AND IVAN MARTIN 25

28 While its immediate scope was bilateral, its ambition was not: it aimed to become a catalyst for new dynamics of co-operation at the European and Euro-Mediterranean levels, at the very least in terms of exchanges of information. To a certain extent, we feel we achieved this objective, if only by disseminating our conclusions through this book. From the outset, we were aware of different approaches and traditions in the two countries. To recognise these differences as a source of richness, and not of alienation among researchers, we decided to use in the Encuentro the headings under which studies are actually conducted: the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the UK, el Mediterráneo y el Mundo Árabe the Mediterranean and the Arab World in Spain. In this regard, the fact that the word Arab does not appear in the 1995 Barcelona Declaration establishing the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership may provide a clue to the geopolitical realities involved in such linguistic nuances. 2 In order to focus discussion and possess a common point of reference ahead of the event, we commissioned a study of the status of Mediterranean and Middle East/Arab studies in the social sciences in each country. These studies, by Miguel Hernando de Larramendi and Barbara Azaola for Spain and by Emma Murphy and Michelle Pace on the UK, are published in this book in their original 2006 version, which also reflects comments and suggestions derived from the Encuentro. As we envisaged them, each report was to include the following: An overview of the evolution over time of AMEM studies and the driving forces behind them (for instance, the policy relevance of subjects, public interest, institutional support) A brief description of research institutions, publications and postgraduate programmes, as well as regular courses in AMEM studies An account of the resources for, obstacles to, and the prospects of, AMEM studies (including the activities of new generations of researchers) A description of the main forms of interaction between researchers/research institutions and policy-making communities The main programmes and lines of research in AMEM studies and recent/current PhD theses A preliminary list of researchers in the field and contact information Three years on, we still regard these studies as pioneering and relevant for their analysis of the status of Mediterranean and Middle East/Arab studies in the UK and Spain. They remain a substantial resource for practitioners and researchers alike and a very useful basis for dialogue between them, 2. Pedro Martínez Montávez reflected on the relationship between the Arab peoples and the Mediterranean in the text of his opening lecture at the Encuentro, included in this volume, and also in Los árabes y el Mediterráneo: reflexión desde el final de siglo, the first lecture of the academic year at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, published in Pedro Martínez Montávez (2004), Mundo árabe y cambio de siglo, pp , Universidad de Granada/Fundación El Legado Andalusí, Granada. 26 THE ENCUENTRO AS A MODEL FOR RESEARCHERS ON THE MEDITERRANEAN AND THE MIDDLE EAST

29 thus facilitating the enhancement of interaction between the world of research and policy-making communities. In both countries, there had previously been some networking initiatives already, implying a need for further innovation in this field. Both in the UK and in Spain there are associations of researchers with a general focus on AMEM studies, although with a different level of formalization. In Spain there is the Foro de Investigadores sobre el Mundo Árabe y Musulmán (FIMAM), created in 1995 but still quite an informal network. In the UK, there is the more established British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES), founded in 1973, which in March 2002 produced a report on Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies in the United Kingdom: A Challenge for Government, Industry and the Academic Community. In addition, there is the much more recently created Working Group on International Mediterranean Studies of the British International Studies Association (BISA). But what is clear is that there is a need for a more ambitious initiative at the Euro-Mediterranean level, to give researchers a framework within which they can come together on a regular basis, as university vicechancellors and rectors are already doing in the framework of Mediterranean university fora. 3 The latter are very much focused on the important issue of university administration and the creation of a Euro- Mediterranean Area of Higher Education (credit and diploma accreditation, double degrees, student mobility and exchanges and education quality enhancement). While these are promising initiatives, the scholarly community involved specifically in AMEM studies still lacks a dedicated framework either at the European Union or at the Euro- Mediterranean level. An independent research association, holding an annual conference, publishing a peer-reviewed journal and linked also by a common website, would hold huge value for AMEM researchers. Hopefully, this idea, which has been frustrated thus far by resource constraints, will at least acquire greater impetus as a result of other developments giving shape to a Euro-Mediterranean Area of Higher Education and Research. As for the content and dynamics of the Encuentro, we designed a programme revolving around the professional activity of academics and researchers working on the Mediterranean and the Arab World and its institutional and social environment in both countries, as well as the state of studies in this field (see the attached Programme on p. 179). In all sessions, we tried to take a comparative approach and not simply use case studies. This is what made the debates really stimulating. In this way, encuentros can provide a stimulus for learning from initiatives and practices in other countries. 3. In Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain) in June 2005, in Malta in June 2006 (where the organisers invited Richard Gillespie to present the conclusions of the Encuentro), and in Alexandria in June 2007 (see the Alexandria Declaration on the Euro-Mediterranean Higher Education Area). After the first EuroMed University Rectors Conference held in Tampere (Finland) in October 2006, the EuroMed Permanent University Forum (EPUF) was created. RICHARD GILLESPIE AND IVAN MARTIN 27